Obama State of the Union Summary

President Obama made his fourth State of the Union Address with a bang, and if he had a cooking show, he could not have added more ingredients to his potpourri of subjects for his subjects. His accomplishments included his much-touted six million new jobs, lower oil imports, housing improvements, stock market advances, corporate profits skyrocketing, but personal income hardly budged.

Obama went on to say that government could not solve every problem but then proceeded to list nearly every current conceivable problem and how government could solve most any problem, but if you work hard, you can get ahead, as free enterprise opens doors to every adult and child. National interest should be above party interest.

Obama touted $2.5 Trillion deficit reduction but decried automatic sequester cuts that will jeopardize military research & cost hundreds of thousands of jobs, effectively passing blame to Republicans for not overriding Obama’s idea for these very same sequester military cuts.

Despite his part in rising healthcare costs due to the misnamed ObamaCare as the Affordable Health Care Act, and need for reforms to protect seniors, the fair share must be carried by the wealthy and powerful, but also denying that healthcare costs were rising.

Then an indirect swipe that Congress should not make promises that cannot be kept, but must keep promises already made; meaning more money via taxes must be authorized, and the usual gratuitous reference to cops, teachers, and firefighters, curiously all union members. Obama swiped at the cost-cutters in Congress by stating that we cannot cut way to prosperity, and deficit reduction alone is not an economic plan. No one will quibble with his remark that tax loopholes must be eliminated.

Then the coup de grace to dissenters, nothing proposed will increase deficit by a single dime. Obama used that analogy previously, and technically, that is a true statement anyway it is perceived.

Obama wants to do more to combat climate change that in the last 50 years there were more natural disasters, droughts, wild fires, etc and we must act before it’s too late, with market-based solutions to climate change, and if Congress does not act, I will. So what else is new?

Obama promised attention to virtually all of the above approach to energy while concentration should be on “Rebuild America.” The aging infrastructure is badly in need of repair, that will bring more jobs, along with 70,000 bridges that need rebuilding along with modern ports, pipelines, schools, and housing.

Entrepreneurs can expand and create new jobs but people need skills to do the job and boost graduation rates, reduce violent crime, form stable families, and increase high school diplomas to put graduates on the path to good jobs, along with associate degree in engineering and redesign high school for science, technology, engineering, and math, making them more likely to get better jobs, as there is unsustainable debt for college that in turn must provide affordability and value to see which schools qualify for federal aid.

Immigration must be fixed and provide a pathway to citizenship, and women must be free from discrimination in the workplace and domestic violence, fixed by passing the paycheck fairness act with honest wages. Working couples at minimum wage still fall below the poverty line so the federal minimum wage must increase to $9 from $7.25, and tie the minimum wage to the cost of living, as it is impossible to get ahead because of poverty, first job, accident of birth, etc.

Troop reduction 33,000 in Afghanistan will be followed by 34,000 coming out of Afghanistan next year, and the war will be over. Yemen, Libya, and Somalia will do their own security, and Obama claimed that he has kept congress fully informed. North Korea was mentioned and Iran must meet their obligations and we will do whatever it takes to prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon; we must be willing to lead.

Obama also referred to Cyber attacks against the power grid and air control systems in regards to which he signed a new Executive Order today. Egypt, Syria, the Middle East, and-Israel support were casually mentioned, and will support best defense world has ever known.

Obama promised equal treatment for family members, gay or straight, and women were ready for combat, and he would invest in health care for wounded warriors and benefits for veterans. Obama then wrapped it up with anecdotal references to voting delays, gun violence, and heroic individual Americans.